Kennel Clubs range from large national clubs like Westminster and the American Kennel Club to local, breed-specific micro clubs. At their best, they’re social clubs that focus on husbandry. The oldest club in the US was founded in 1903 in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

Originally called the Jack Russell Club of Chicago, the club started as a passion project by Emerson Toomey, a Chicago native of English descent who prided himself for being a sixth-cousin of the founder of the breed, Parson Jack Russell. The JRCC was more of a dog friendly drinking club than a true kennel club, though they were known to hire out their dogs as expert ratters in exchange for pints, particularly as meetings went on into the night.